APA sets Dec. 22 public hearing session for proposed howitzer test range

RAY BROOK | A public hearing at Adirondack Park Agency (APA) headquarters here on Dec. 22 will open formal adjudicatory review of a commercial howitzer ballistics testing range proposed in the Town of Lewis. Administrative in focus, the public hearing led by an administrative law judge guides intervener status, organizes issues for review, and sets a hearing schedule. As a start to adjudication, APA spokesman Keith McKeever told The Sun this first hearing will be administrative in nature, and there will be no public comment period at this session. In addition to the applicant and APA staff, adjudicatory hearings consider intervener status requests from adjoining landowners or others with economic and environmental interests likely to be affected by the decision. Regulatory approval is required for this project under the APA Act because howitzer ballistics testing is a new commercial use proposed on land zoned Rural Use in the Adirondack Park. Primary land use defined in APA Act Rural Use zones include single-family dwellings, open space recreation, agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing cabins, game preserves, cemeteries, private roads, sand and gravel extraction, and public utility uses. Secondary uses "that typically require a permit," according to the regulation, include multiple-family dwellings, mobile home courts, public and semi-public buildings, commercial uses, tourist accommodations, marinas, campgrounds, golf courses, ski centers, sawmills, other wood-using facilities, mineral extractions, and industrial uses." PROJECT SPECIFICS Project developer Michael Hopmeier proposed the test range to be built near the decommissioned U.S. Department of Defense Atlas-F intercontinental ballistic missile silo he purchased ten years ago. The application from Hopmeier's company Unconventional Concepts Inc. was deemed complete by APA staff and went out for public comments in October after nearly four years of review and six Notices of Incomplete Application. Hopmeier's test facility seeks to fire non-explosive steel projectiles from an M109 155 mm Howitzer cannon up to 30 times per year. Town officials and nearby landowners would be notified a week in advance of testing, the proposal says. Projectiles would be fired into a soft catch system set up on the wooded property west of Big Church Mountain, a foothill below the Jay Range in the Jay Mountain Wilderness. At their November monthly meeting, APA commissioners unanimously agreed they need more information with further public input before approving howitzer testing on land zoned for Rural Use. The proposal to establish a cannon range in Lewis drew over 1,400 public comments in October and hundreds more in project review three years ago. Adjoining landowners, neighbors and residents from nearby towns weighed in heavily against artillery testing in the Adirondack Park. APA said Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) David Greenwood, an attorney with the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Hearings and Mediation Services, has been assigned to lead the hearing process. In late November, Hopmeier's attorney Matthew Norfolk, of the Lake Placid firm Norfolk Beier, asked Greenwood to recuse himself from the case, citing prior affiliation with the Adirondack Council. Greenwood worked with the conservation non-profit in the mid 1990s to 2000 before attending law school, according to a professional CV online. As ALJ, Greenwood is tasked with establishing a hearing schedule, setting an order of questions to review, scheduling testimony and guidelines for interveners. ISSUES In recommending the project to public hearings, APA staff provided an outline of issues pending. These include compatibility with Adirondack Park land use guidance and potential adverse impact on natural, scenic, ecological, wildlife, recreational and open space resources. APA staff said questions remain regarding health and safety impacts related to range operations, and storage and transport of military equipment outside of a designated military-controlled area. Key areas of uncertainty include sound and percussion impact to adjoining and nearby land owners and visiting hikers, hunters and outdoor recreationists on nearby park wilderness. Sound impulse data presented by Unconventional Concepts suggests a shot from a howitzer emerges from the barrel at 180.8 decibels (dB) and would dissipate as the sound wave expands over distance. Many comments questioned adverse impact on nearby property values. Others questioned the economic benefit for a community that relies heavily on wilderness tourism. The howizer testing range would be set up 2.1 miles from Adirondack Public lands in the Jay Mountain Wilderness, and it adjoins a landlocked section of the Taylor Pond Wild Forest in Lewis. The Town of Lewis has no land use plan for local guidance. FIND OUT MORE The public hearing session with ALJ Greenwood begins at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Notice of the session is available online: apa.ny.gov/permitting/topic/permit-hearing.html In a news release, APA said the public is invited to attend at their headquarters in Ray Brook in person or online via the agency's Zoom teleconference interface. Links to the meeting will be posted on the APA website. Application documents, public comment folders and information about the site are available there as well: apa.ny.gov

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APA sets Dec. 22 public hearing session for proposed howitzer test range

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